Mirror, mirror, virtual reflection

My pet parakeet has toys in her cage which have mirrors as their major component. She often pecks at them and makes various noises, usually soft friendly noises to the parakeets in the mirrors. But parakeets are not among the self-aware species, like people, dolphins, monkeys and elephants are; so she thinks the image in the mirror is another being out there.

This morning she was making angry loud squawks at the mirror, however, apparently seeing an intrusive in-your-face angry parakeet there. Squawk! Squawk! she went on and on, one foot holding the mirror's mounting so it could not escape her angry in-your-face activity in return.

So I commented to her that mirrors are indeed curious things.

Her relationships with her buddies in the mirrors could tell her something about herself, if she only understood.

And ... this has an uncomfortable suggestion about relationships even between people. The mirror is between, although being only a virtual mirror; yet is still somehow there only too well. It really looks like "that other person" is expressing something, yet how much of it is only a virtual reflection of ourselves?

... well ... mirrors are helpful too, like when combing one's hair or checking out the attire. That virtual mirror, which is the other person in the relationship, could function similarly. Make the image look nicer.

Self-regenerating systems & predators

Contemplating the inter-effects of self-regenerating systems and predators upon them.... Examples include:
-- a hunter-gatherer making a foray into the adjacent jungle and coming out with some berries, roots, and a rabbit for dinner;
-- dropping a bucket down into a well and bringing up a bucket of water to drink;
-- a housewife goes to the grocery store, puts some food off the shelves into the cart, and goes home with sacks of food for dinner.
-- an investor buys up all the seed stock for the next planting season, and demands a higher price for the seeds when the farmers need to plant next season.

The self-regenerating systems were, respectively, the jungle, the waterwell, the grocery store, and the stock market. The predator takes from the system and gives nothing back in return, nor does the predator take responsibility for the survival needs fulfillment of those self-regenerating systems from which it takes.

However, exactly how self-regenerating are they all? The jungle fills in the vacated spaces with more berries, more plants growing edible roots, and rabbits multiply and move back in; water seeps from adjacent areas to bring the level of water back up, replenishing from the water to the sides; and the grocer re-stocks the shelves; all happening as if my magic to the predator upon the self-regenerating systems. The larger picture we take in our view, we see interdependence of the smaller self-regenerating systems, interdependence that grows to include the entire surface of the earth, the deep oceans with their fish, and the skies with their birds and rain. Yet they are all attached; do predation on one part and the rest needs to fill the resource back in, or no resource remains for the predator.

The contrast is, of course, with systems that are tended and nurtured, and harvested. Taking over much of the responsibility for the functioning of what was once a self-regenerating system. Look wide enough, the whole Earth is the self-regenerating system; in fact one must look wider yet for a more complete system picture.

If price increase only = functionality added

I wonder what would happen if America adopted an ethic, an operating principle in all business, that "price increase only = functionality added."

Price increase only = functionality added.

What a radical thought. How outrageous! How unpatriotic, some might think. How ... well, how much it makes a lot of normal business activity seem like cheating. And that is not permitted, such a suggestion.

Adding scarcity by buying up all that was available that would be needed later by others, thus jacking up the cost to the end user without adding usefulness, would not be "adding functionality". Thus not a legitimate strategy for "making money."

Retailing adds usefulness by bringing product to easy availability to the end user. Advertising, including by the retailer, adds functionality by making potential users aware of a product's existence, and what it could be used for by the user. Appropriate price increase would go with that.

I wonder what such an economy would be. What would it be like? I think it would make an immeasurably stronger America, one's whose integrity would be admired by other countries. But, others might still play artificial scarcity games of price-raising, to the detriment of Americans. But after old accumulated karma got burned off, I think that too would cease. No more "hoax value" involved. The work ethic of everybody might really improve, and productivity of the nation regain a solidity unknown for ages.

But it is likely to be unfamiliar and therefore difficult, stressful in adaptation.

And ... the gaming of artificial scarcity raising price might still be legal in, say, art objects, where owners like to increase price of "ownership" of one-of-a-kind objects. This would be a game activity, however, played among the idle rich. And not mainstream American economy, having little if any ability to improve the functionality of Americans. Beauty has a different kind of value, enlivening the experiencer. And, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" remember. Lots of free beauty around.

Having price increase that does not exactly fit functionality increase, is a request of money for nothing. If such transactions did not occur, would that not build a country without lots of "nothingness" holes in its composition? And therefore, much more solid, able to withstand the times when the world heavily shakes and sloshes.

Of course, I don't expect anybody to take this suggestion as valuable. If they don't consider my KESTS to GEO concept invaluable for enabling great wholesome expansion of mankind's civilization starting immediately, little else that I could suggest would make a useful impression on the powers that be. After all they are boss here and nothing else matters: an ancient operating principle too.

Cheers,

Jim

Consciousness techniques on long drives

This post is about consciousness techniques I found valuable for use when doing long drives alone.

There were two types that I found quite helpful. I learned of their basics in books in the general field of holistics. Unfortunately I have lost track of the books and authors from whom I learned these techniques in the 1980's.

One is very simple and I practiced exactly same as the author described: count breaths, starting with number one and going only up to number ten, then restarting at number one again. Continue this sequence indefinitely while doing the drive until next breaktime; resume when back on the road again. Counting breaths: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-1-2-3-4-5.... I found that indeed it helped keep me alert yet more at ease, the miles passing easier. And on rare occasions when I discovered that I was counting beyond ten "... 12-13-14..." it was an alert signal that I had been a bit inattentive, and thus getting me to pay more attention.

A more complex yet equally more effective technique which helped keep me alert yet more at ease during very long drives is one that I adapted from one I had read about, and I called my variation of it the "PJO" or the "Peace - Joy - Order" process, perhaps same name as original source, although the way I did it was unique, I think. It too involves a process that is synchronous with the breath. Re-describing it now, the process consists of noticing three different kinds of things while driving along the highway, noticing them in sequence, over and over again. The first one is done while mentally saying the name "peace" to oneself with the breath: notice some muscle in the body that is more tense than necessary for the driving task ongoing, and relax it just a little bit. Then while saying the word "joy" to oneself, notice something out there among what is seen that has some quality of beauty or prettiness to it, anything. Then on the next breath do the third process to the mentally expressed word "order," that of seeking something out there that has a quality of order to it at that instant; just identify whatever it is, noticing it. Then on the next breath, start the process over again, breath by breath, step by step, peace - joy - order - peace - joy.... Example is "peace" breath, notice and relax a tenseness in small of back; ""joy" breath, appreciate the colorfullness of taillights in the dusk; "order" breath, notice the repetitive sequence of telephone poles and their parallel wires alongside the highway. Then do the three again, with some new overstressed muscle found, etc. After hours of doing this process, I was quite relaxed and keenly aware of all involved with the driving, even more so than during the usual form of "pay continuous careful attention" driving that involves maintenance of a high level of stress throughout the drive. I only did this process during the long interstate drives, not the intense driving along high speed city freeways such as in Los Angeles, which involves a lot of shifting of vision from front to sides to rear view involving head motion, other vehicles close and fast and not always exactly predictable. But on the long otherwise tedious drives, the peace-joy-order breathing process worked great.

J E D Cline 20070820

If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it.

Disclaimer: If the shoe fits, wear it; but remember, you have to buy it before you make it yours. And then its use is your responsibility, not mine.

Opinion: Musing about what if the American people somehow manage to again have a government that was theirs, instead of the other way around. This is not a blog entry designed to make friends of powerful people, unfortunately for me; but in the long run hopefully could make Americans much the better in general.

1. Responsible accountability on an ongoing basis: waiting until an election term is not nearly fast enough to call for accountability to the American people for doings of their elected (or hired) officials. There needs to be fully effective feedback mechanisms to direct the actions of the government operators, so as to meet the ongoing and future needs of the American people.

2. It is said that there are two things one does not want to know how they are made: one is the composition of sausage, and the other are of the laws. Given that we all know this hallowed way of evolving our legal precedent system of justice and regulation, a process of review of laws and regulations needs to be prepared. Several items that need an unbiased review:

2a. The banning of L-Tryptophane as a supplement for nutrition. Although it is again appearing on the market, thankfully, apparently it is still illegal; it is just that everyone knows that L-Tryptophane is an essential amino acid component of the human being, required for life. That a batch of imported "L-Tryptophane" was heavily contaminated with toxic non-listed substances which caused their kind of ill effects, has nothing to do with L-Tryptophane itself. The guaranteeing of what nutrition is in a container is a separate issue. The banning of L-Tryptophane was one of those
"sausage" laws that needs rapidly getting off the books, to help a huge number of Americans, since it is increasingly difficult to obtain naturally in proper ratios with other nutrients, to enable among other things, adequate sleep so people can function well, an essential for an effective America.

2b. "Roper" stuff: Much has been written about the high multiple value of hemp products. These claims need to be impartially evaluated in balance for life-enhancing uses as well as uses that are not enhancing of life. Is it true that hemp was always growing naturally here in the United States up until a few decades ago? Is it true that hemp rope was the strongest tensile material for its weight than any other material known 50 years ago, and was used to tie up warships to our docks even during WWII, as one use? Was hemp-derived paper used to provide paper during the war for independence, even the declaration of independence was written on hemp paper? Does hemp seed provide a non-ocean-dependent source of the Omega-3 oils found so essential for brain function? Just how damaging to the user is the smoking of the drug derived from one part of the hemp plant, that is used by some as recreational use by some, as compared to, say, caffeine, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, tea, and prescription tranquilizers? Is the THC found in parts of some varieties of hemp plants really useful for treating glaucoma and brain tumors? Is clothing able to be made from hemp plant material, that is unusually durable? Does the growing of hemp for use in paper and fabric production uses etc, really use far less environmentally destructive pesticides than does the equivalent acreage of cotton fields? Has America been shooting herself in the foot in the banning of hemp growing and use in this country?

3. The folk we hire to roust out people who are breaking the law big time, probably have to be of the same nature to have an urge to team up and assault "the other guys" as are the ones we hire them to hunt down and "bring to justice." We run our team thorough quite a training process showing permitted expressions of aggression and harassment of others who are targeted by "our justice" system. This is a far better way to deal with these folk, by somewhat taming them thusly, and conditioning them to be ready to go assault, but only on "our" command. Lots of perks, esteem, and salary satisfy their ego, and hopefully prevent expression of their urge to go assault in more toxic ways. Now, what if instead of prison time for those who they "catch", those ruffians are run through the same process as "our" boys? It might be a lot cheaper, and would bring them into the control system with its hierarchical chain of command, thus hopefully controlling them even better than prison residency, and be teaching them something useful for rest of their life, maybe even become useful members of society as a result. It is said that one cannot change the color of a tiger's stripes, but we obviously consider predator behavior acceptable in "our guys" so why limit it to just them? We could start with some of the folk already in prison ... who knows, maybe our prisons would become things of the past. However, one cannot pit our tamed predators against other predators if they are all on our staff, so some other use would need to be made of their innate urge to assault as a team; the military would not be suitable as these kinds of assaulters want to bully with little risk of being much hurt themselves, unlike military who go in knowing equal risk is to themselves as to their quarry. Fully comprehending what drives the bully-mind needs to be researched so as to bring it responsibly within civilization, there are huge numbers of them amongst us, and the threat of imprisonment clearly is not enough means to get them all into line. Their super-ego needs need to be met in more wholesome ways for all concerned, including wholesome for the rest of us Americans.

4. Efficacy, the combo term for effective and efficient, needs to become a respected criteria for decision-making. The imposition of standards designed to regulate one industry does not at all necessarily imply suitability for the performance of a function do-able by other means than by that industry, despite the industry's possible pretended claim to the territory. The regulations that are designed to provide safety in automobiles, such as the need for a windshield and red taillights, ought not to be imposed on the pair of shoes and streetclothes one wears, although either the shoes or the car can get one down to the market and bring back a sack of groceries. What if the person had to have a windshield and taillights on the rear when going to the store on foot? Just because each is an effective and efficient way to get the groceries from store to home, does not mean the same rules apply. Application of such a principle could well go towards many things, such as:

4a. The requiring of the same scientific evaluation standards that are applied to new pharmaceuticals, ought not to be required to the evaluation of "natural" substances, including the "neutraceuticals" being discovered continually as well as those time tested for centuries or millennia. The individual has the responsibility for good health of self, and the freedom to sample for that which really works for themselves.

4b. The efficacy of many common medical practices that go unquestioned because of "standard practice" could well be evaluated. For example, the use of tourniquets being moved from patient to patient when taking blood samples in hospitals, was recently found to pass along pathogens that in some cases caused severe illness later. Yet it was an unquestioned standard practice before.

4c. The efficacy of the quite well developed electrowellness technology for use in do-it-yourself wellness practice around the world, needs to be rationally evaluated. That it might cut into the profits of the powerful business groups that do similar things, for example pharmaceuticals, as claim to business territory is not necessarily the best interests of the American people for maintaining their wellness and functionality at lowest cost. Although pharmaceuticals do wonders for people at times, and are supreme at some wellness things, they are not at all necessarily the only means for totally achieving the bottom line of wellness of Americans. For example, the use of a specifically applied signal of 395,000 Hz from hand to hand might be an effective and efficient way to control the parasite that causes Toxoplasmosis, so widely prevalent even in Americans, and now linked to curious mental effects, and spread by our beloved pet cats down through history. Blocking use of electrowellness technology is like not playing with all of one's marbles, and the stakes are quite high: the continuous high functionality of we the American people, enabled in effective and efficient manner.

5. Entities. Clear definition of responsible entity identification needs to be derived. For example, an entity in the form of an individual person can be sent to prison for causing the demise of a person; but an entity in the form of a corporation cannot be sent to prison for doing the same thing. People's survival instincts provide immunity against challenging teams or other groups of people acting together, unlike they might challenge individuals doing the identical activity. So it is not an easy goal, yet if we are a nation of individuals, responsible action needs to be not confined just to individuals but also apply to entities defined as a group such as a corporation or team, for examples.

6. Windfall knowledge accessed by investigators of all kinds, needs to somehow be brought into line. For example, gaining private information about an individual, ranging from who their girlfriend is to what is used to make an invention he is working on, needs to be somehow prevented from access by investigators looking for, say, contraband; and the faking of claim for the right to do such investigation needs to be similarly made an unacceptable risk to those who improperly investigate. This is becoming especially important at a time when obscure harmful people are being sought within the country at enormous cost to the taxpayers, by what must be a huge staff of investigators. There may be valid excuse to seek potentially harmful people within our borders, based on such things as the destruction of the building in Oklahoma City, and the spread of anthrax by mail, eventually found originating from sources within our own country. So, "they" lurk amongst us, it seems. The point here is that the knowledge gained as windfall knowledge accumulated in the course of "investigating" all the people of the country, could be used to very easily control the people by a future unscrupulous bunch. Cravings for power over other people seems to crop up like weeds in the garden, and needs to be prevented, or the weeds will take over the garden. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, it is said.

7. Education. A human potential is a terrible thing to waste, it is said. We individual humans have incredible potential, and it seems to me that most of it is going to waste nowadays. Humans have a responsibility to tend and maintain this planetful of beings and systems, in addition to being able to munch from its resources. We need to tend the garden if we want the garden to continue to produce indefinitely. Otherwise we are just raiders, hunter-gatherers; when the jungle is huge, that is an OK mode, but those days are long gone. We have to tend and care for that which provides our nourishment: our Earth with its land and seas and air and sunshine is where it comes from, and we need to get with the job of tending it all. We need a much higher functioning human population to do this in an efficious way. Education needs to take on new levels of functionality; the little red schoolhouse worked for its farm community, and our current educational institutions similarly serve a larger surrounds, but the job is far more than they are designed to do. The internet and computer system has enormous potential for linking Americans into knowledge and skill bases, as well as task definitions.

8. Military. A sense of proportion needs to be made. The resources to be expended needs to be balanced against the potential losses risked if the military expenditure is not made. Balance, not mere might. Although we Americans became heros to the world by waging war off our shores in defense of our favored friends who were getting aggressed by powerful assaulters craving power over others, we ended up with the only world superpower military, along with nukes enough to exterminate the planet. But waging war beyond one's own borders in defense, is normally a major turn of purpose. Such resources could be tantalizing to those who crave power over others, and conceivably use the knowledge of what makes public opinion to enable them to get into office, where they also just thereby happen to have control of that awesome military, free goodie. If we do not take steps to guarantee responsible use of our huge leftover military might, other countries will have to focus on matching that ability to assault, a game played too often by people in the past. Have we not learned anything? Sure we have learned lots. Now let's use our knowledge gained so tragically, that it not have been acquired in vain.

9. And in general, taking a swing at a fantasy target pasted on a real somebody is likely to stir up some interesting drama for all concerned; but let's keep the drama level down to a conscionable level, OK? Drama is clearly a real need in people's lives; yet there is potential drama galore in the struggle to keep our planet alive and diversely vigorous, our civilization growing and healthy, and to prove out the wonders that humankind can do. However, as a species we need to become far more responsible for what we do before we dare risk expanding our life into the space nearby, or we will risk a "star wars" kind of adventure, might as well just stay here and mess with ourselves instead, is easier. But we have so much real potential, would be sad to thusly throw it all away in glorious monkeybusiness. Surely we can do much better than that. We have the potential. And it can be a lot more comfortable.

Well, this has been a writing that is not designed to win friends, and is likely to irritate some of the few who might now still be a bit friendly towards me. But I am an American, and that entails a unique responsibility, to tell it like it is, lest we waste ourselves in struggle with shadows. So, hopefully these principles could help make life far better for those of future America, and thusly to the world. Our forbearers have taken that choice, and made things as good as they are now. Gotta do one's best to keep it going.

J E D Cline 20070817

collar bone thumb technique

collar bone thumb technique

By JEDCline 20070812

Similar to "Brain Buttons" of Brain Gym, and to "Necklace" of Vision Gym (both by the Dennison's) I have found a different form of stress relief that works on myself. Maybe specific to stresses I have more than others, unknown.

Technique:

One hand's fingertips are placed around the navel, thumb on top along body center line, other fingertips equally spaced around as if on a circle around navel.

Other hand has the outside edge between base of thumb and wrist, placed against underside of opposite collarbone; also the fingertips resting on outside of shoulder there.

Maybe rub the thumb base area along the underside of the collarbone a few times a little, but mostly just rest the thumb base edge and collarbone underside together while resting and meditating on the experience for as long as one likes. Lying down on one's back helps prevent weariness of the arm, but the technique also can be done sitting up too.

I found that the meditation, body-sensing consciousness, accessed some deep areas not cleared out before, and resulted in better balance of consciousness in normal activity afterwards.

J E D Cline
20070812

Solid KESTS

kests solid

A highly useful form of KESTS to GEO has been extensively described for many years, such as on www.kestsgeo.com. It would avoid the need for super strength low weight materials of a space elevator anchored tether, and also deliver lift energy all along its extent from ground to GEO and back, along its loop around the planet (or a moon). Functioning overall as a multiple armature electric motor, supported by the dynamics of its centrifugal forces generated within itself by velocity of some of its parts.

Although, using modern science and engineering techniques, they have not all been put into use together in such a configuration yet; and it would involve dispute of use of space between ground and GEO, unfortunately, even though it would essentially eliminate need for objects in that equatorial area.

There are too many current stakeholders in that area of apace and they need to reclaim their investments, and so block KESTS to GEO type projects, even though KESTS to GEO could be millions of times more effective in the expansion of civilization into space; one can understand, however, current space stakeholders need to get their reward, and they now run the game.

So, there may be some much simpler projects of lower risk, done briefly, to get some experience in KESTS to GEO type structures.

(Note that I hope those who utilize these concepts in order to make their big projects, consult my writings for some usage principles, although they no doubt would be focused on some specificity which will make them money or power; I just hope they use it wisely. Especially since they seem to seem to consider me expendable and not worth involving... some psychological quirk I suppose.)

Anyway, consider instead a simple hoop structure encircling the planet, that is also a synchronous electric motor's extended armature, but instead of streams of discontinuous armatures, a continuous armature loop be used, its perimeter moving at, say, 15 Km/s, above orbital velocity all along its perimeter. Outstretched in circular shape much like the proverbial cowboy's lasso, and restrained to go past the earth surface through the electric motor's stator (such as in a tunnel in equatorial mountain) its perimeter of many times that of the Earth's (or associated moon) the spinning hoop would extend far above the farside of the planet relative to the surface contact point. Having fairly constant velocity despite areas rising and falling within the earth's gravitational field, tensile stress in the material needs to take up the additional load, increasing the higher it gets above the earth.

Such a structure would therefore not need much of the accommodations of the current configuration of KESTS to GEO design. It would have some interesting natures to evaluate. Being a continuous structure, no need to build in the innate station-keeping magnetic levitation of an enclosed track-way. Although traveling at meteoric velocity even in the atmospheric portion, it is not having to punch through the atmosphere like a meteor does. Just what happens to the air molecules that do bounce off the hoop sliding past it at 15 km/s is part of the overall question; I think it would form a boundary around the structure, and would need input power to the structure to make up for the energy losses.

The structure would be mostly to evaluate these effects, along with the other dynamics of a centrifugally stretched hoop around the earth.

Payloads might be lifted up the structure in the form of tubes within which the hoop slides, the tube sections using magnetic repulsion against the armature magnets to center itself and obtain inductive lift up the upward side of the spinning hoop. It would have to come down the same rising side of the hoop, however, to be gently lowered back to the ground, using less inductive drag than needed to support its weight wherever it is in the gravitational field at the time. Thus, unless the lifter tubes are all removed when they get to GEO and kept up there, only one lifter would be able to use this kind of simple structure at a time to get between ground and GEO. Conceivable the materials for building a SPS in GEO could be done this way, if the pieces are all individually small; the overall payload capacity by being run continuously day and night, can move an impressive mass. Remembering that this would be an electrically powered space access system, unlike conventional rocket launch technology now used to access GEO, space projects would become a whole new ball game.

And once we become comfortable with such a structure, maybe we will have the courage to go for the far more useful, but more complicated, KESTS to GEO.

J E D Cline
http://www.escalatorhi.com
http://www.kestsgeo.com

Blind profit will lead them both into the ditch

Big trouble is brewing when a business group (eg, a corporation) drifts its prime focus from creating the best product for the customer, to instead creating the most profit for the business group owners & stockholders. One may idealistically believe that the two are the same; yet as product franchise takes root, virtual territories are formed via several mechanisms, and it becomes effectively impossible for others to compete via a better product creation, because the established corporations control the marketplace by means other than having the best product. From then on, it is a process of making most money with least effort, for efficiency; and the creation of customer-optimum product drops further down the list of corporate priorities. And thus the customer is deprived of the optimum product innovations, having to settle for whatever business will make available to the customer.

Part of the difficulty may be the formation of an in-group "political correctness" around a social mechanism such as "free enterprise" that soon forgets the original idealistic implications of the slogan, "free enterprise" in this case. The active suppression of potentially upcoming technologies that could obsolete a powerful corporate complex, is likely far more profitably efficient than by the path of harmonizing with the new technology, for example, and so the principle of maximizing profit for expenditure made, goes for the "suppression" option if it can be done covertly enough or by somehow implying credibility gap between the established old workable versus the potential innovative new useful.

When the relatively few who are focused on controlling power and wealth processes become entrenched in a business-political system, the "customer" becomes merely a resource base that may be more efficiently controlled by a large variety of methods other than by providing the optimum products for the customer. They lose sight of the forest by becoming totally engrossed in the fun & games of playing the trees.

For examples, imagine a nation's overall transportation system that had been created guided solely by maximizing functionality, time and energy efficiency for all the users of the nation; and a health system that had always been guided by a principle of maximum health for the population, instead of guided by maximum profit for the suppliers and practitioners. Amazing difference! Is there a way to head back toward being on track? Corporate structure and resources are well fitted to creating products and services; it is the guidance criteria that creates the problems. It must be a profitable concern to survive, true; yet the difference between optimum product for customer along with somewhat less profit margin, might be only a small amount; it would need to be rationally justified in reference to its probable integration by the customer base into the model of the world situation environs in which it will function in practice during its useful life and eventual removal. Improvement as projected into the big picture ought to be able to justify some level of lessened profit for the corporation, to provide a better product or service to the customer. Anyone heard of the saying that "what goes around comes around"? Think corporations and its people are immune to that principle?

In pure politics, the "customers" can vote out the "management," but in a corporate system, the only vote possible is that of buying, or not buying, the corporate product. But the customer can only buy from among that which is available, in the corporate-controlled marketplace, options that are controlled not by optimum usefulness to the customer, but often instead by maximum corporate profit. Management that would choose otherwise, are likely to lose their jobs, as the stockholders typically are also far from sight of the forest in which they exist and upon which they depend for enduring life.

When the nation of customers is thereby deprived of having optimum functional products for fulfilling their needs, a similarly increasing dysfunctionality grows. If the customer base of the nation is not identical with the stockholder base (that is, where the customers are not equal and identical to the stockholders) it is likely that drift will occur from the "reality" of optimum functionality, to a "virtual reality" of maximum profit. Virtual meals are not nearly as nutritious as real meals are.

Even for those who have long ago lost the big-picture-purpose focus, by instead increasingly focusing on amassing great wealth and power via an endless plethora of behind the scenes manipulation of others' lives and events big and small, money cannot buy that which is not availably created. Although in fewer instances than for the rest of us, they too eventually will go away either empty-handed or only with an inadequate item that won't quite fill the need, can't do the job.

The customer can only obtain that which has been created, and the most functional product for the customer is not at all necessarily the product that makes the most profit for the powerful corporation. Blind profit will eventually lead them both to fall into the ditch, as it is said.

Triad: cats may be something more than what we see

JEDCline 20070803

Cats have been with us for thousands of years, originally a symbiosis where they kept the mice population down in granaries where people's grain was stored, and the cats got fed too as part of the deal. Yet, this may actually be a triad relationship, which has lasted for thousands of years.

Sure, cats have superstitiously been attributed with strange powers, such as a black cat's movement across in front of one's travel has specific meaning to the person. Such superstition tales have persisted.

But more recently, science has found some very curious oddities associated with cats.

One is their association with the odd parasite Toxoplasmosis gondii.

Another is the repeatable phenomenon of a cat in a nursing home sensing impending death with uncanny accuracy.

So, there may be a third critter in the overall symbiosis system here, besides cats and people: the Toxoplasmosis gondii micro-creature. Scientists had found out that this microbe lives in the gut of cats as adults, and at certain parts of their life cycle, the T. gondii discharge their eggs that then get deposited outside by the cat, lightly covered with dirt (or cat litter inside a home.) These eggs await in the ground until intaked by non-cats, such as mice.

This kind of thing is a common type of parasite life cycle but here is where it starts to get interesting: the mice who have thereby become inhabited by the Toxoplasmosis gondii parasite, start to become attracted to cat's presence, including liking trace amounts of the urine odor that cats use to mark as territory. This becomes a fatal attraction to the mice - or whatever - and when the mouse is eaten by a cat, the Toxoplasmosis gondii re-enters a cat digestive system to begin the life cycle again.

So here we have a micro-critter which requires the specific environment of a cat's gut as part of its life cycle; then the spread in dirt dust particles or cat litter dust, where it then inhaled or in food consumption dust, where it has another part of its life cycle which produces a strange psychological effect on that host.

Part of it is to make the host attracted to cats.

In humans, it has also been found to cause the mental perception variation called Schizophrenia, of various amounts. Worldwide the infection percentage of people is quite high; some estimates of population infection rate range from 22% in the UK to 88% of the French. Since cats have been with us apparently since at least the dawn of agricultural civilization, the aggregate psychological shifts in people may have made overall quite an influence on the historical flow of what people have done in civilization.

We normally consider microbes as just being benign such as in those which help us digest our food, to being not-benign such as those which cause the flu and such illnesses. Now it appears that a microbe can alter the psychological functioning of humans, too. This perhaps can be considered as just another illness, yet a very curious illness indeed.

The Toxoplasmosis gondii microbe can also be passed from mother to child in the womb, it has been found, another means of propagation of the micro-critter.

So here is a three-way interdependent symbiosis of creatures: the cats, the micro-creature Toxoplasmosis gondii, and the people. And the micro-creature contributes a significant psychological component to the system.

Although the micro-creature's psychological contribution the the cat system was only to draw food close to cats for easy meals, it has clearly gotten more complex when humans got into the loop. For example, they also provide easy meals via cans of cat food, for their pet cats in the house. The schiznophrenic psychological change of "personality" in not just mice but also in people, can have major consequences on people's lives.

For example, a couple of decades ago I had a very dear girlfriend, who told me she had something called "Toxolasmosis" but that meant nothing to me at the time except that she felt it would harm children she bore. Yet looking back, I now see that her quite odd behavior at times was probably caused by the Toxoplasmosis infection she had. Sometimes she would get a strange look in her eyes and say things like "she was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea"; she sometimes would crawl under the dining table and stay there while saying a string of odd accusations and appeared to not hear my replies at all correctly. Once she and her kids and I had gone in my car to a distant town for entertainment, and when we returned to my car, we all got in except her, and she told us to leave and abandon her there ... I refused to leave her there ... and the next day she thanked me for not leaving her there. She attempted suicide at least twice. She always had cats in the house, including the cat litter, which presumably was shedding its Toxoplasmosis egg stages into all who were there in her homes, such as herself, her 5 children, her separated husband who spent Sundays there with she and children, her various other menfolk she had accumulated including me, as I was the main financial provider at the time. So I know of its effects on her life. And quite likely on the lives of the rest of us, all who loved her dearly. Even her little pet dog nursed the cat's kittens, I now remember, which seemed a bit odd to me at the time. (Of possible additional significance was that my girlfriend had an identical twin sister, who was married and lived in the area in quite a normal family lifestyle; but they did not have cats.)

Such events may be being played out all around the world; perhaps in different intensity, yet subtly influencing activities and decisions from the curious psychological properties of inhabitation by Toxoplasmosis.

Could such a tiny microscopic thing have a major impact on human life? Seems unlikely. Although we take for granted the days when we have other kinds of infestation such as downtime when having the flu. A huge percentage of the world has another kind of background infection, that of Mononucleosis, another example; we just live with it, after the initial feeling sick. So, we actually do have companionship with a wide variety of micro-creatures we host, each with their own special natures. And in the case of Toxoplasmosis, the psychological effect is not just of "feeling miserable" for awhile. Schiznophrenic activities even of tiny intensity could account for a lot of the things humans do around the world and at home.

And now the carefully documented case of a nursing home cat which uncannily knows when its residents are about to die and goes to curl up with them. Cats often do like to sleep in their owner's beds, of course. But that cat has lots of possible beds in which to sleep, but it chooses to go to the bed where the occupant is about to die.

Is Toxoplasmosis also playing a role in this scenario?

The trio seems to deserve some more inspection via scientific analysis (and maybe by the subjective experiences of people too): the cat, the T.gondii, and the humans. A zany triad love affair that has been busy for thousands of years, and still is.

Maybe we ought to make a more intelligent interactive effort with that which may be influencing us more than we would like to know.

(PS: Sometimes it is helpful to back aways off from something, so as to be able to see it more clearly. For those who experiment with electrical things, the microcurrent resonant frequency for the Toxoplasmosis parasite is 395,000 Hz, according to some research. JEDC)

References:

"Scientists Find Stronger Evidence For Link Between Cat Faeces And Schizophrenia" Science Daily:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060125082853.htm

"A Brief History of House Cats" by David Zax, Smithsonian Magazine July 2007
http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2007/july/brief-cats.php?imw=Y

"Grim Reap Purr: Nursing home feline senses the end" by Brian Vastag, Science News July 28, 2007, vol. 172, No 4, p.53
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070728/fob5.asp

"Parasite deludes rats into liking cats" by Susan Milius, Science News, Week of Aug. 12, 2000; Vol. 158, No. 7 , p. 109,
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000812/note14.asp
from the Aug. 7 2000 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences.

"Toxoplasmosis Linked to Schizophrenia Risk" Reuters Health
http://www.medicineonline.com/news/12/464/Toxoplasmosis-Linked-to-Schizophrenia-Risk.html

"Maternal exposure to parasitic infection may increase risk of schizophrenia in offspring, study" Medical News Today, 16 May 2005
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/24524.php

All is not quite what meets the eye

The complex assortment of structures composing the human body are organized to provide for the survival of the whole. The neurological part of the coordination that provides feedback regarding the physical world portion that is one's body, has been labeled the "R-Complex". Here, what one's senses perceive, and the physical movement of one's body as one goes around in daily life, is the rock-solid stuff of life, getting on with things getting done in life.

But, eventually one may notice that all is not necessarily what it seems. Or at least only what it physically seems. There are subtle levels, sixth-sense, and other unseen influences affecting the physical world. And the related world of imagination can be influenced not only by one's own urges to fantasize, but also stimulated by others, such as when watching a movie on a screen: the physical eye sees the flat screen and light pattern images splashing across it, all physical; but the imagination sees people, natural scenery and events happening there, instead of the flat screen with splashes of light on the screen as experienced by the physical eye.

Holding a telephone up to one's ear and mouth, and fantasizing having a conversation with someone far away, as if the person were nearby though not quite in view at the moment, is another sensory example. With the help of the telephone system connecting the two, the imagination converts the subtle energies of video projector and electronic sound, into an apparent reality to which one can respond.

The term "all is not quite what meets the eye" can refer to conjecture about what is unseen motivating other's more apparent presentations of themselves, in business, politics or even in dating.

This can be extended even further from the R-Complex's level of comprehension, when considering emotional, psychological, psychic and spiritual components of overall human experience.

In fact, it is a really big multilevel complex universe out there, and one's imagination converts the small part that lands on oneself, into meaningful experience, ever assigning specific significances to it all in a flowing drama of one's life.

And probably not one those perceived life drama ongoings is quite the same as any other person's. Each person's experience is ruled by the sovereign of its imagination, ever guiding the flow of the very limited space of one's conscious attention. The interpretation of the ongoing life experience, is done best possible by the person, under influences aplenty from present and past inputs.

And so, the things that happen that do not exactly fit into that interpretation, can be lumped into the parts that "are not quite what meets the eye."